After analyzing the passwords of last year, NordPass researchers found that 70% of passwords can be cracked in less than a second. That is 3% less than the previous year.
The increase means that millions of people are still using weak code. They don’t realize that having a strong password is one of the most important tools for keeping yourself safe online.
How Do Cyber Attackers Crack Passwords?
The most popular way is the so called brute force. It is an effective way to hack people’s passwords. When it comes to brute force activities on your password, attackers check whether your password is one of the most used one. They also check any known data that you could use for your passwords, like your name, favorite band or the name of your pet. Hackers could also use a system that optimizes this data by adding more information such as numbers or characters.
They also translate words into leetspeak or scan them. These are huge tables with hash values that are matched to possible plain text passwords. In addition, hackers also check whether other accounts have been hacked by you and whether you are already using the same password for another account. That is why it is so important to use individual passwords for everyone. Unfortunately, according to the study, 65% of people use their code many times.
What Do Cybersecurity Experts Recommend?
They recommend that you use strong passwords that are very long and contain letters and numbers. In addition, you have to use an individual password for each account. It’s also a good idea to use authentication to further improve your security.
A simple password with less characters or capital letters can be cracked in less than 0.30 seconds. With at least two additional characters, the time to crack the password increases to around five years. However, this time also depends on the device the hacker is using. How long it takes to crack a password can be checked on the internet.
